Tag Archives: Immune system

When beauty of thoughts, body and basics merge! Source: http://www.flickr.com/

You come across some people, who are very smart and strong or cultured and caring. Then, you bump into people, who are highly dynamic but dreaded like dynamite! You enamor those, who are very successful and rich. But, you don’t like those, who are controversial and complaining types. There are many, who eat healthy food and have healthy habits; but their health is not on their side. But then there are others, who cannot afford healthy food; however, they enjoy good health.

What makes people so diverse, even if they are brought up in similar environments? Let us look at what studies on subject suggest:

Researchers in San Diego, USA examined life records of about 30,000 Chinese-Americans about 2 years back and compared with randomly selected 400,000 white people. They found that Chinese-American die significantly earlier by as much as 5 years, particularly those attached to traditional Chinese superstitions! Their research revealed that it is not because of genetic factors or life style, but belief of Chinese-Americans that they would die younger, since stars have hexed them and that manifests in shorter life span!

A TIME magazine special issue sometimes back had showed that happiness, hopefulness and contentment reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, cold and upper respiratory infections. Now, imagine the looks and physique of people, who are happy and hopeful; they are bound to be ones, you would love!

Look at some of the speakers at TED Talks. Those, who impress you most, would have healthy body, impressive body language and well balanced. Ones, who sound boisterous, would be seen by you as toxic and others with blemish tones would look terrible to you!

Makeup of your body reflects makeup of your mind and vice versa!

Look at some real life observations:

Body of flexible natured people is supple; whereas rigid people have stiff body, which gradually develops muscle and joint pains.

Chest of confident people opens well, they automatically breathe well and sleep well. On other hand, people with anxiety sweat more, lose body water and sleep, and their skin becomes slack over time.

Facial skin of serene people is tight and that of stressed people develops wrinkles or lines early hood.

People with lot of biases develop allergies frequently, which eventually weaken their immune system.

Short tempered or sensitive people catch cold and infections often and impair their body language!

If you accumulate tension over longer time, you would tag along host of problems from numbness to cancer.

People with toxic nature are known to produce more toxins in their body!

Your thoughts and body work in sync!

If you believe that your thoughts and body work independently, you are grossly mistaken. Scientific and clinical fact is mind through its thoughts impacts brain and brain passes that impact to rest of our body through neurotransmitters. Our thoughts and body have bidirectional communication via neurotransmitters.

So, your thoughts affect your body instantly, though most people do not realize it immediately. Generally, when such effect builds up, then you experience it. Check on following in your daily life:

You get tired of working. So, you stop, take a break and try to relax. What is relaxation?You create a thought to loosen your muscles or body. That thought triggers thru brain the neurotransmitters to reach parts of body, you want to relax – say shoulders or legs, direct more blood to circulate and loosen muscles/nerves around those parts.

You reach your office and learn that elevators are not working. Instantly, you feel tired merely by idea of climbing up staircase.What is it? It is a thought, which connects your brain to body, specially legs and spine, and tightens muscles/nerves there and alter blood supply levels to give you a feeling of tiredness.

Some dreams in your sleep, which are nothing but uncontrolled thoughts, wake you up fresh and others create fatigue!

So, your thoughts make your body relaxed or restless. A relaxed body communicates back to your brain via neurotransmitters to create thought/s of pleasure. This is turn triggers body to release happy hormones like Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin or Estrogen or mix of same!

On other hand, if your body is restless, it would trigger thought of pain, which would connect up to your emotions like irritation, anxiety or anger.

Connection of thoughts and body is your cutting edge!

It is costless but priceless. This is how it works:

If you think well, your body does very well!Wellness in your body would reward you back with rewarding thoughts or ideas.

If you think ill, your body would initiate illness!Not that you would fall ill immediately; it is start of the process. Even God would not interfere in this, regardless how holy you are!!

Your brain memory and body anatomy keep full account of your plus and minus thoughts!Your every thought – positive or negative – leaves its imprint on your memory and impacts your body via neurotransmitters. If it is 3 pluses and 2 minuses, what counts for your body is net impact – 1 plus and that is how it would build up in your body. Over time, you would experience its net good or bad effect.

Wrong thought for a right reason is wrong!One of the biggest misnomers is I can do wrong for a right reason. Reacting wrongly for the cause of God, faith, society or nation is retrograde. Your body would suffer. Your body can only recognize plus and minus, not the rationale or justification behind your thinking!

What is at the back of your mind drives you most!At back of your mind known as subconscious mind resides past memories i.e. knowledge/information + emotions. Normally, you have no clue how much goes on in your subconscious mind. You are consciously thinking or doing one thing; but you are subconsciously thinking something else.Now, challenge is – you have impression of doing it right; but if at back of your mind things are not going right like anxiety, doubts or disappointment, then it correspondingly generates negative effect on your body. It is for this reason that you may exercise and take healthy diet but if thinking is unhealthy, you always get partial results!It is best to be driven by your conscious mind, keep subconscious mind empty and secure best effect on your body!

So, shape your thoughts to shape your body accordingly! It is in your hands what you want to become – bold, beautiful, dynamic and/or debonair!!

A study by scientists of Swansea and Milan Universities of people in various age groups has concluded that those, who spent too much time on internet, are more susceptible to caching cold and flu. Internet addicted people suffer from stress, when they are disconnected with internet. Cycle of relief and stress that they go through leads to altered levels of cortisol – a hormone, which is responsible for impacting human body immune function. Previous research had shown that excessive use of internet leads to greater sleep deprivation, worse eating and drinking habits among users. Note that culprit may be internet; but real cause is addiction and/or stress, which is nothing but thoughts albeit negative!

In 1950’s, Henry K. Bleecher of Harvard University published his research finding that 30 to 40% of patients suffering from chronic ailments improved after taking a placebo! A placebo is like dummy tablet say sugar pill that has no therapeutic value, but patient sees it as part of treatment without recognizing that it is dummy but believing it would help. Since then lot of medical research has proved that placebo does work and leads to biological changes in body, which are actually triggered by psychological changes. It only establishes intimate relationship of brain with body; mind over matter!

How our brain controls body

Regardless of biological explanations how brain controls our body, bottom line of this control is our thoughts. Ironically, very little work has been done in physics or physiology on “How a thought gets developed in human mind”! It is our thought that sends command through nerves/ blood vessels to concerned part of body to control it in a specified manner.

If you are carefree and rarely tense, you would enjoy good health and immunity with body weight being normal. However, if you become careless/casual, you would run risk of becoming obese.

If you a confident person (confidence comes by clear thoughts), you would raise your head, look straight and walk fast. Over time, you are less likely to suffer from cervical or spinal problems!

If you are generally stern and angry faced, you would develop crow’s feet lines around eyes and wrinkles on forehead.

If you are worrying or stressing type, you would be vulnerable to host of health issues – poor digestion system, IBS, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiac ailments or disturbed sleep leading to dark shadows under eyes and weak immune system!

Train your thoughts and tag your world along!

Everything that we experience comes through our thoughts in mind! It is only our thoughts, which give us feeling of life in ourselves and in others around us. Absence of thoughts is absence of life and in medical terms, one is brain dead. Our intentions, perceptions, ego, emotions, desires, needs, habits, tendencies, traits, biases, beliefs, fears or faiths are nothing but a set of thoughts. We tend to classify those differently, since our sensory response to each of them is different. Our world is roughly 50% physical comprising of matter and energy and 50% is virtual comprising of our thoughts!

Such is colossal effect of thoughts; but equally callous/casual is the approach of most people towards thoughts! Normal tendency is to think – oh, what is there? It is just a thought; it does not matter! Stark fact is our thoughts become our talks and tasks, after getting converted into words and wishes/wants!

Thoughts also create radical impact:

Thoughts help you dream and design your destiny!

They shape your personality!Medical field generally talks of genes impacting your persona. But, genes only determine your tendencies and your thoughts can alter same. If genetic tendencies are favorable, impact of your thoughts would get accentuated; but if contradictory, those would impede impact and you would struggle more for a change!

Thoughts can influence upcoming events, until those become a reality!

Now, how to train your thoughts!

My research has revealed that you can train your mind only for positive thoughts; but never for negative thoughts! Negative thoughts would always build automatically!!

Less positive you are, more negative would you be. When your negativity recedes, positivity rises! To train your thoughts:

If you are happy and hopeful, you are ready to go to step no. 6 below.

If your mind is laden with loads of thoughts, divert your mind and get busy with your work, until your mind becomes light.

If you are confused or irritated and can’t find reason for same, believe that what is in your mind is rubbish. Simply discard it.

If your mind is preoccupied with some problems, determine what needs your immediate attention and what can wait. List down the latter on a piece of paper; but attend what is immediate, leaving aside everything else.

Finally, when you think you are focused, then is the time for next step.

Practice to build your thoughts only on basis of your present observations or goals and knowledge but never emotions.
Nothing else must be considered to build your thoughts.

Our mind keeps wandering, which actually means random thoughts roaming in our mind. Lot of researchers and psychologists suggest that allow them to come and go; just observe. This is a right thing to do; but what is not right is to create pressure in mind to drive them away, since by doing so, you create opposing thoughts, which is wrong. Instead, believe random thoughts are redundant; hence give no importance. This is the best way to practice and push them away!Another significant revelation from my research – “Random thoughts or remembrance of even most loved or respected ones, including God, can’t stand you in good stead! It means a malady in mind – traces or tones of obsession or prejudice!!” So, practice to think or remember even God consciously!

Drill in your mind nothing is more important than to focus of what you choose to do now!

Secret of your positive thoughts is surfacing of your happiness! Practice to capture and consolidate those thoughts!!

Make serious efforts to allow single thought at a time in your mind!

By training your thoughts as above, you would witness miraculous and mind-blowing changes in your being and body!

By happy-go-lucky people, I don’t mean those, who are thick skin, carefree, care-the-less or who appear to keep themselves aloof from pain but not from pleasure! I am referring to those people, who keep themselves happy and able to manage their stress well!

I am sure that you know some happy-go-lucky people. To understand what they do and what works for them, let us first look at following examples:

Doctors rarely fall prey to diseases they treat!Practicing doctors rarely fail to attend to their duties. They usually do not pick-up infections from the patients they treat. Popular belief is that by getting exposed to infections repetitively, they become immune and that they take precautionary measures like washing their hands after checking their patients etc. But, many doctors are not known to take such precautionary measures. Then, there are several social workers, whose pursuit is to meet patients, spend time with them and boost their morals. Even these noble workers hardly get impacted by illness of patients!
There seems to be no scientific explanation how frequent exposure to infections enhances your immunity! But, one thing is strikingly similar among doctors and social workers – they don’t get disturbed and distracted from diseases; for them, it is just a routine!

Why doctors’ evergreen advice in every illness “Be happy; you would be o.k.”?You must have noticed this! Doctors do try to create optimism and hopes in their patients!! I have witnessed many, who have faith in their doctors, recover much faster than those, who doubt them. Why?
It is certain that optimism and hopefulness help your health!

Military people invariably enjoy and sustain sound health!Fitness exercises and hard work definitely help maintain good health. But, there are lot of civilians, who are health freaks but don’t seem to benefit as much as military people do. What is worth noting is that military people are healthy; but not necessarily happy!
There is one stark difference military personnel have as opposed to civilians – they are much focused and don’t allow themselves to get distracted in normal course!

Saintly people are seldom sick!They are calm, less complicated and have minimum conflicts of thoughts! Their wants or needs are very little. The net result is a stress free life and that seems to be key to their good health.

During exciting time, excellent health endures like that of bride and bridegroom at time of their wedding!When you are truly excited or having a hearty laugh, your body releases such hormones, which make your immune system stronger. At such time, you suddenly find yourself very focused and free from worries!

Now, signs that happy-go-lucky people emit

Compare the above examples with the clear signs, happy-go-lucky people reflect:

They are free from stress or manage their stress well.

They don’t overtly get disturbed by distractions.

They are optimistic and hence dislike company of pessimists.

They strike good balance between work and life.

They are not perfectionists.

They are able to minimize struggle with self.

They take on the life as it comes.

They avoid being furious or frustrated.

They don’t allow dust of doubt and rust of past to set-in!

They never nag and always enjoy what they eat!!

So, we can safely conclude that happy-go-lucky persons are unique combination of unique qualities of medical practitioners, military men to saints and stimulated ones! We often confuse with superficially happy-go-lucky ones, who are complacent, care free or careless, casual or enjoying being in comfort zones! Such people have misplaced happiness.

It is noteworthy that happy people are invariably healthy; but healthy people are not necessarily happy and therefore, eventually they lose good health!

How to be happy-go-lucky!

Gainfully engaged mind brings wellness; whereas idle mind triggers illness!As a matter of fact, mind can never remain idle. Typically, when we say idle mind, we mean no physical activity; but our mind is actually busy with conflicting thoughts. A gainfully engaged mind would automatically drive you to do productive work!